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How to automatically select (jump to) tab sent (shared) from another device on Firefox Sync account

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Hello,

I use Firefox on a few devices, one of them being Mac connected to a projector. When I share tabs (url) from any device to the Mac, it receives it, loads it on a new tab to the right of the active tab, but it doesn't switch to it automatically. The tab shows a blue dot until I manually click on it.

Is there a way to auto switch the tab that was just received?

This is not related to the "When I Open a Link in a New Tab, Switch to it Immediately" option in preferences, which only changes the behavior of links opened on the same machine, but not the ones sent from another device.

I want to achieve this mainly to automatically play YouTube videos on the projector, but also other pages that I would like to see on the big screen without having to reach the mouse on the mac.

I guess this should be supported natively, but looking at the about:config I couldn't find anything obvious. I only wan to use third party extensions as a last option.

Cheers! Airton

Hello, I use Firefox on a few devices, one of them being Mac connected to a projector. When I share tabs (url) from any device to the Mac, it receives it, loads it on a new tab to the right of the active tab, but it doesn't switch to it automatically. The tab shows a blue dot until I manually click on it. Is there a way to auto switch the tab that was just received? This is not related to the "When I Open a Link in a New Tab, Switch to it Immediately" option in preferences, which only changes the behavior of links opened on the same machine, but not the ones sent from another device. I want to achieve this mainly to automatically play YouTube videos on the projector, but also other pages that I would like to see on the big screen without having to reach the mouse on the mac. I guess this should be supported natively, but looking at the about:config I couldn't find anything obvious. I only wan to use third party extensions as a last option. Cheers! Airton

All Replies (3)

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Hi Airton, please ignore the unofficial support solicitation that someone posted. We have no idea where that leads and don't want you to get scammed.

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Hi Airton, on Mac/Windows/Linux, there is a specific setting for whether to open tabs from external applications in a new tab in the active window or in its own window. But I don't think there is a specific setting for whether external links open in the background. Hmm. Do you want to test out opening external links in a new window and see whether those get focus? Here's how:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste neww and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 2 then press Enter/Return or click the blue check mark button to save the change.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.


Here's a little more context on that setting and the related settings:

(A) browser.link.open_newwindow - for links in Firefox tabs

This is the one that has a checkbox on the Preferences page:

  • 3 = divert new window to a new tab (default)
  • 2 = allow link to open a new window
  • 1 = force new window into same tab

(B) browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction - for links in Firefox tabs

By default, if a page sets width, height, or toolbars for a popup, Firefox will let it be a separate window. To force those into a tab as well, you can change this preference to 0:

  • 0 = apply the setting under (A) to ALL new windows (even script windows with features)
  • 2 = apply the setting under (A) to normal windows, but NOT to script windows with features (default)
  • 1 = override the setting under (A) and always use new windows

(C) browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external - for links in other programs

  • -1 = apply the setting under (A) to external links (default)
  • 3 = open external links in a new tab in the last active window
  • 2 = open external links in a new window
  • 1 = open external links in the last active tab replacing the current page

To return to normal if things go haywire, there's an arrow-like reset button at the right end of each of those rows if it has a non-default value.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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This doesn't sound like a question for Android (mobile), so I will move the thread to regular Firefox support.